Edwin Burtt
Encyclopedia
Edwin Arthur Burtt was an American philosopher who wrote extensively on the philosophy of religion
. His doctoral thesis published as a book under the title The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science has had a significant influence upon the history of science
that is not generally recognized, according to H. Floris Cohen
.
He was educated at Yale University
, Union Theological Seminary
and Columbia University
. He became the prestigious Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University
in 1941.
.
, he did not work on the project further, because he lost interest after his ideas that spiritual experience is the identification with categories of space, time, causality, and other fundamental physical principles were never included in the final publications.
may very well have been unaware that in building on the philosophy of Alexandre Koyre
, he was in turn building on the philosophy of Burtt whose influence upon Koyre has been demonstrated as substantial.
Philosophy of religion
Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious language and texts, and the relationship of religion and science...
. His doctoral thesis published as a book under the title The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science has had a significant influence upon the history of science
History of science and technology
The history of science and technology is a field of history which examines how humanity's understanding of the natural world and ability to manipulate it have changed over the centuries...
that is not generally recognized, according to H. Floris Cohen
H. Floris Cohen
- Life :Cohen studied history at the University of Leiden, receiving a Ph.D. in 1974. He is currently a professor in the Comparative History of the Science at the University of Utrecht...
.
He was educated at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He became the prestigious Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1941.
Biography
He was born to missionary parents, who took Burtt (Ned) to China for several of his teenage years. Although he maintained throughout his life a sympathy towards religious values and beliefs, he acknowledged that his philosophy had been marked by a reaction towards what he saw as his own father's too narrow an outlook. He graduated from Yale in 1915, where he was a member of Skull and BonesSkull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
.
Work
Although Burtt participated in drafting the Humanist Manifesto IHumanist Manifesto I
A Humanist Manifesto, also known as Humanist Manifesto I to distinguish it from later Humanist Manifestos in the series, was written in 1933 primarily by Raymond Bragg and published with 34 signers. Unlike the later manifestos, this first talks of a new religion and refers to humanism as a...
, he did not work on the project further, because he lost interest after his ideas that spiritual experience is the identification with categories of space, time, causality, and other fundamental physical principles were never included in the final publications.
Influence upon Thomas Kuhn
Based on his own statements, Thomas KuhnThomas Kuhn
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
may very well have been unaware that in building on the philosophy of Alexandre Koyre
Alexandre Koyré
Alexandre Koyré , sometimes anglicised as Alexander Koiré, was a French philosopher of Russian origin who wrote on the history and philosophy of science.-Life:...
, he was in turn building on the philosophy of Burtt whose influence upon Koyre has been demonstrated as substantial.
Publications
- The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science. A Historical and Critical Essay (1924) London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner.
- The Metaphysics of Sir Isaac Newton (1925)
- Religion In An Age Of Science (1930)
- Principles and Problems of Right Thinking (1931)
- The English Philosophers, from Bacon to Mill (1939)
- Types Of Religious Philosophy (1939)
- The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha (1955)
- Man Seeks the Divine: A Study in the History and Comparison of Religions (1957)
- In Search Of Philosophic Understanding (1965)
- Light Love and Life (1986)
See also
- List of science and religion scholars
- American philosophyAmerican philosophyAmerican philosophy is the philosophical activity or output of Americans, both within the United States and abroad. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while American philosophy lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and...
- List of American philosophers